Armed Train in the Apocalypse

No one knew who first noticed the train conductor slowly ascending the steps. Without any verbal communication, the camp gradually quieted down, and the gaze of thousands fell on that figure.

Even if he did nothing, just lowered his head, slowly and rhythmically climbing the platform step by step.

The crowd’s gaze willingly followed him, as if staring into the abyss, unable to pull away.

The atmosphere reached a peak in another extreme.

Flames and lights glided over his obsidian-like long hair, streaming down dazzlingly, but he himself had no color; his earrings were covered with a layer of opaque black, a loose black shirt, black casual pants, and a pair of white sports shoes, half covered by wide pant legs.

Even standing in the center, under the firelight, still gave one the illusion of blending into the darkness.

He Jie flicked the freshly lit cigarette in his hand, pressed it with his toe, the tobacco and ash mixed together, the crimson glow completely extinguished. A feeling of discomfort weighed on his mind, he didn’t know the reason, he just felt something was different.

Up to today, there were no passengers left on the train; those who had witnessed the train conductor’s arrival had gradually dwindled.

The trust and admiration once built through battles had once again been lost with the war.

People trusted him because he was the strongest.

People revered him because he always stood at the forefront.

People feared him because he slaughtered millions, from the Four Nations, Evolution Beasts, and Donghuang alike.

But because he was Su Huan, they trusted him; no one feared him because he was Su Huan anymore.

He was a symbol, the train conductor, a living legend.

Except he wasn’t the flesh-and-blood person among them.

It was as if something invisible had severed him, a distance that no amount of banter could bridge.

He was closer to the world, yet further from them.

Heavy footsteps fell beside him; without looking, he knew it was Liang Kuan.

Since finding his daughter, the latter spoke a lot more.

”Pang Tu was just cursing you.”

He Jie lit another cigarette, smoke veiling his eyes. ”I should be cursed.”

Liang Kuan was stunned for a moment, then patted his shoulder with a big hand. Both seemed rough but were actually meticulous in nature; otherwise, they wouldn’t have become partners.

”I regret it, Old Liang.”

Even if Licking Rabbit died in battle, he only hated his own inability, but even if the hatred ground his teeth to powder, he didn’t regret fighting this war.

But he regretted not shouldering some of Su Huan’s debts.

Liang Kuan knew what he was talking about, looking at the increasingly towering figure on the stage, ”You know, he doesn’t care.”

”But I care.”

Su Huan spoke from the stage, his style largely unchanged, without a superfluous word.

Tong Zizhan and the other, having accomplished many feats, were promoted to Captain, with all kinds of benefits maxed out. In addition, a heap of points and evolutionary resources were rewarded. Other contributions were recorded, and if they were promoted to Tier Three, they could directly become Colonel based on these accomplishments.

The mongoose was promoted step by step, but this promotion jumped directly from Sergeant to Second Lieutenant.

Officially entering the Armed Corps officers’ sequence.

”What the heck?” Lian Jin exclaimed in astonishment, trying to confirm with his older sister beside him, ”Making such a big spectacle, I thought they’d make someone a General, and all a Tier Two Evolver gets is a Second Lieutenant?”

Lord Lian raised his hand impatiently, landing a critical hit. ”You hang around with them every day, how come you don’t even know this? Armed Corps — Tier One Sergeant, Tier Two Second Lieutenant, it’s the hard power standard; even I only went in as a Colonel.”

Having just reviewed many documents, Lord Lian had a more detailed understanding of the train’s system.

”Too busy drinking; I wondered why they have so few officers... But it sounds exciting, speaking of which, can we at Donghuang Heavy Industry do the same?”

”Bang!”

”Hell no! Look at their numbers, now look at ours?!”

Afterwards, Pang Tu and others were awarded ranks according to merits, because the scale of this war was so large, almost everyone who survived was promoted; the original soldiers were massively promoted to sergeants in this battle, but new recruits are still in training, currently leaving squad gaps unfilled.

It’ll take time to adjust after filling the gaps; after all, the train runs on an ”elite” squad mode. Truly regaining vitality might take at least two months.

Though Donghuang Heavy Industry was just an observer, as battle comrades, they extended the utmost respect to every promoted individual.

Then the process became much simpler: distributing equipment, distributing resources.

The Armed Train had few people and abundant resources, leading to the ordinary soldiers’ equipment being comparable to the Colonels from Donghuang Heavy Industry, making the surrounding soldiers’ eyes turn red. As for the newly developed ”Four Symbols” series of battle suits, Lian Jin couldn’t sit still and pleaded with his older sister to sweet-talk her way into getting a couple more sets.

Lord Lian angrily hammered him again.

In fact, the battle suits just developed a few days ago had already been sent back to headquarters along with an original Fungus Carpet.

The final announcement that the train would establish a station on the Four Countries Peninsula ended the speech entirely, and the event entered a new climax.

...

At the edge of the Gravity Zone.

A shattered asphalt road stretched from the Gravity Zone into the farther forest.

The moonlit forest carried an eerie vitality; trees weren’t like trees, grass wasn’t like grass, all desperately stretching branches and vines, seemingly trying to touch the moon in the sky.